Sunday, 31 August 2014

Blueberry sponge cake with cream cheese frosting

It’s
all very well being selfless and baking to please others but sometimes you just
need to be selfish and bake something to please yourself! This week I had
a hankering for blueberries baked in a simple sponge with cream cheese
frosting. Et voila! I think blueberries are my favourite fruit to
bake in a sponge – I love the way they break down, bleeding their juice into
the sponge and also the magnificent pop of colour you get when cutting a
slice. It’s particularly effective when the outside of the cake is so
plain and pale.

The
cream cheese frosting is my favourite as it’s so smooth and creamy. It’s
great to team with a crumbly sponge because you can take some on the fork and
use it to pick up all the crumbs. This is one of my tests as to whether
someone is a true cake lover or not. (It may also double as a test for
greedy guts! If so, I am guilty!) A true cake lover will always gather their
crumbs and eat them – after all, they are just smaller versions of the slice of
cake. An occasional cake eater will eat the slice and leave all the
debris on the plate – it’s a total giveaway that this is not my kind of person!

I
think this cake looks really good and could easily take pride of place on the
afternoon tea table; don’t however assume that means it is difficult or time
consuming to make – it is neither. The sponge recipe and method is as
basic as possible, as is the frosting. It’s an example of great flavours
and ingredients producing something simple but delightful.

Foolishly,
I made double the amount of frosting. I
cannot explain what possessed me other than a greedy stupidity that the amounts
set out in the recipe below didn’t look enough.
Hence, I was left with a large amount of cream cheese frosting. We always joke that cream cheese frosting is
so lovely we could just eat it by the spoonful so, eyeing the strawberries and
left over blueberries I had sitting in a colander I threw together an impromptu
dessert. Serve it with some crisp
biscuits if you want to look fancy.
Bonus dessert....the best kind!

Start
by making the sponge: beat together the butter and sugar until pale and
whippy. Don’t be tempted to skimp on this stage – it needs a lot of
beating.

Beat
in the eggs one at a time, adding some of the flour if it looks like it’s
curdling. (NB. If you have beaten the butter and sugar for long enough it
will not curdle – so if your mix does make sure you beat for longer next time)

Beat
in the vanilla.

Stir
in the flour.

Gently
stir in the blueberries taking care not to burst them.

Spoon
the batter into the prepared tin and level the surface.

Bake
for approximately 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out
clean.

Leave
to cool in the tin for about 20 minutes before de-tinning and leaving to cool
completely on a wire rack.

Now
make the frosting: start by beating the butter until it is pale and whippy.

Add
the icing sugar and vanilla and beat until smooth and well combined.

Add
the cream cheese and beat until the frosting is smooth, thick and fluffy
looking. I like to take a small amount, place it on my tongue and then
press it up against the roof of my mouth – if I cannot feel any sugar crystals
and the texture feels smooth and uniform i.e. no blobs of cheese in there, then
I know it’s ready. If the beating has made the frosting too soft to
comfortably spread refrigerate for 20 minutes or so.

Oh goodness! Any idea how to get dribble off my keyboard? I could just eat that right now. I am afraid that I purposely leave some crumbs and debris on the plate purely for my little 4 legged friend to have. No offence intended!Hugsxx

Love that third picture - the icing looks so lusciously thick! I would have definitely passed your true cake lover test today when I was out with friends. I made sure I scraped up every bit of my carrot cake crumbs!

I am definitely an 'eat every last crumb' sort of person.... (should I be admitting that?)....This looks a delicious cake...... what a terrible shame you had to make a second pudding with the left over frosting! What a hardship!!!!!

Dear CC,I have been thinking about this cake all week and have just made it. I have to say it was well worth the wait. I forget how lovely this frosting is and so I am always surprised each time. I am afraid that I didn't leave any for my dog and I am delighted to report that everyone invited to join me for a piece didn't either xx

Just made this cake, was serious good stuff... it's the second from your blog I make and it definitely won't be the last!I had a little problem though, all my blueberries in the cake fell down to the bottom... I've read bathing them in flour before adding to the batter could help, but I desperately need some tips from the superhero!!

You can dust the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour, but I find the key is making sure they're really dry - I always roll them around on lots of kitchen roll before I use them.Also make sure the batter isn't too runny so it can support the fruit

You can dust the blueberries in a tablespoon of flour, but I find the key is making sure they're really dry - I always roll them around on lots of kitchen roll before I use them.Also make sure the batter isn't too runny so it can support the fruit

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